http://www.mala.bc.ca/~mcneil/PEN03.HTM
"I know not who put me into the world, nor what the world is,
nor what I myself am. I am in terrible ignorance of everything. I know
not what my body is, nor my senses, nor my soul, not even that part of
me which thinks what I say, which reflects on all and on itself, and
knows itself no more than the rest. I see those frightful spaces of
the universe which surround me, and I find myself tied to one corner
of this vast expanse, without knowing why I am put in this place
rather than in another, nor why the short time which is given me to
live is assigned to me at this point rather than at another of the
whole eternity which was before me or which shall come after me. I see
nothing but infinites on all sides, which surround me as an atom and
as a shadow which endures only for an instant and returns no more. All
I know is that I must soon die, but what I know least is this very
death which I cannot escape.
nor what I myself am. I am in terrible ignorance of everything. I know
not what my body is, nor my senses, nor my soul, not even that part of
me which thinks what I say, which reflects on all and on itself, and
knows itself no more than the rest. I see those frightful spaces of
the universe which surround me, and I find myself tied to one corner
of this vast expanse, without knowing why I am put in this place
rather than in another, nor why the short time which is given me to
live is assigned to me at this point rather than at another of the
whole eternity which was before me or which shall come after me. I see
nothing but infinites on all sides, which surround me as an atom and
as a shadow which endures only for an instant and returns no more. All
I know is that I must soon die, but what I know least is this very
death which I cannot escape.